I was scratching my head wondering what image I could use to communicate the topic of regeneration (being "born again"). I settled on this photograph that I took about a year ago, here in Scottsdale, Arizona.
So far in our series on the Doctrine of the Application of Redemption (from Dr. Wayne Grudem's textbook on Systematic Theology), we learned that mankind, from the fall, was sentenced to death. But God postponed that death sentence with His Common Grace to all so that some might be saved. We further learned that God, from eternity past, has already chosen those who would be called His elect, yet in contrast and mystery also gives us the responsibility to respond to His gospel call. The elect of God, upon hearing the gospel proclaimed receive God's "effective call" which is actually a personal invitation from God the Father into an eternal relationship with Him.
Our response to that call produces repentance of sin and asking God to come into our lives and gives us eternal life. That moment in time is what theologians call regeneration. Properly defined, regeneration is: a secret act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to us.
This photograph visually demonstrates that through the thorns placed upon the head of Christ, and through his death on the cross and placing our belief and faith in Him, is indeed found regeneration. Just beyond those thorns. He invites us to come into the light out of the darkness.
Who among us wouldn't desire that God the Father, in the most personal way, regenerate our lives in such a way that we can experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Who can deny the tremendous desire to have all pain and tears removed and to spend eternity in heaven?
The bible calls it being "born again". Theologians call it regeneration. Lets explore this secret act of God in our lives...
Notes from my reading of Systematic Theology:
The Bible teaches that once we accept God's personal invitation to eternal life by the confession of our sins and the exercising of belief that something happens internally. We are "born again" or regenerated.
Regeneration is a secret act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to us.
Regeneration is Totally a Work of God
In some parts of the redemption process we play an active part (responding to the effective call, conversion, sanctification, and perseverance). But the work of regeneration is completely God's work and we play no part at all.
John 1:13, "...who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, but of God."
James 1:18, "By His own choice, He gave us a new birth by the message of truth so that we could be the firstfruits of His creatures."
1 Peter 1:3, "...According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth..."
John 3:3-8, "Jesus replied, "I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "But how can anyone be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked him. "Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?" Jesus answered, "I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where its comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
The work of God's regeneration was also prophesied in the Hebrew Canon:
Ezekiel 36:26-27, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances."
Dr. Grudem concludes that God the Father and God the Holy Spirit work in communion with one another on this process as John 3:8 also speaks of being born of the Spirit in this process.
Dr. Grudem further asserts that the effective call and the process of regeneration seem to work in concert with one another: "As the gospel comes to us, God speaks through it to summon us to himself (effective calling) and to give us new spiritual life (regeneration) so that we are enabled to respond in faith. Effective calling is thus God the Father speaking powerfully to us, and regeneration if God the Father and God the Holy Spirit working powerfully in us , to make us alive."
The Exact Nature of Regeneration is a Mystery to Us
As we can see, regeneration is clearly a doctrine taught in the scriptures. However, because we can't actually see what happens and when it happens, it remains a mystery. Some people who are "born again" seem to make miraculous transformations in their lives, whereas a child brought up in a Christian home may be very difficult to pinpoint the exact date of his or her transformation. As we will see later, the evidence of the regeneration is seen in its fruit (patterns of behavior and desires).
In This Sense of "Regeneration", It Comes Before Saving Faith
From Dr. Grudem:
"Using the verses quoted above, we have defined regeneration to be the act of God awakening spiritual life within us, bringing us from spiritual death to spiritual life. On this definition, it is natural to understand that regeneration comes before saving faith. It is in fact this work of God that gives us the spiritual ability to respond to God in faith. However, when we say that it comes "before" saving faith, it is important to remember that they usually come so close together that it will ordinarily seem to us that they are happening at the same time. As God addresses the effective call of the gospel to us, he regenerates us and we respond in faith and repentance to this call. So from our perspective it is hard to tell any difference in time, especially because regeneration is a spiritual work that we cannot perceive with our eye or even understand with our minds."
Here are verses that show regeneration prior to our response to God in saving faith:
John 3:5, "Jesus answered, I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God."
John 6:44, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day."
John 6:65, "He said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted to him by the Father."
Acts 16:14, "A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul."
In contrast, there are verses that tell us that you can not understand without God's regeneration:
1 Corinthians 2:14, "But the natural man does not welcome what comes from God's Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to know it since it is evaluated spiritually."
In Romans 3:11, Paul is speaking of people apart from Christ and says, "...there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God."
Ephesians 2:4-5, "But God, who is abundant in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. By grace you are saved!"
Colossians 2:13, "And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses."
Dr. Grudem states that some evangelicals are confused about the timing of regeneration because they are focusing on the results of the regeneration and thus calling the result the regeneration. Yet, as he says, the scriptures makes it clear that regeneration comes prior. Regeneration, from God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, allows us to understand and respond to the effectual call and respond in repentance and faith.
Genuine Regeneration Must Bring Results in Life
So...how do we know if regeneration is genuine?
1 John 3:9, "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God."
Certainly this isn't suggesting that we will never again sin. But as Dr. Grudem suggests, "when people are asked to characterize a regenerated person's life, the adjective that comes to mind should not be "sinner", but rather something like "obedient to Christ", or "obedient to Scripture". No one...who is born again....will continue to sin.
Let's say that you are a man who is addicted to Internet porn. Lets further assume that you hear the effectual call of God and through regeneration seek forgiveness of your sins and seek eternal life with Christ. Regeneration then would not find you "later on" still addicted to your old ways. After regeneration this behavior should be repulsive and you will increasingly have the strength and understanding to believe this and your behavior following in place. "Soon" this behavior and sin of pornography will become a thing of the past.
It is important to understand that the process of regeneration is much more than belief. Even Satan believes that Jesus is the Christ. There is a genuine real process that occurs here and only God really knows when it happens for most. But there is certainly evidence that it occurs in your life. If there is no evidence then get on your knees and seek God's face and ask for His saving grace with a penitent heart.
Other evidences/effects of regeneration:
1 John 4:7, "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God."
1 John 5:3, "This is love of God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith."
1 John 4:4, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."
1John 5:18, "We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him."
Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
This regeneration gives us love not of this world, but of Christ and with it the power to overcome the temptations and pressures of the world. Even further it gives us protection from Satan himself. And, as seen in Galatians, there is fruit giving evidence to the regeneration.
The bible teaches to look for this "fruit" in the believer and to beware of those claiming to have this regeneration but who clearly don't and intend to deceive:
Matthew 7:15-20, "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You'll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you'll recognize them by their fruit."
Another point that Dr. Grudem wants us to understand is that, "neither Jesus nor Paul nor John pointed to activity in the church or miracles as evidence of regeneration. They all point to character traits in the life!"
Matthew 7:22-23, "On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, drive demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?' Then I will announce to them, 'I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!'
From Dr. Grudem:
"Prophecy, exorcism and many miracles and mighty works in Jesus' name (to say nothing of other kinds of intensive church activity in the strength of the flesh over perhaps decades of a person's life) do not provide convincing evidence that a person is truly born again. Apparently all these can be produced in the natural man or woman's own strength, or even with the help of the evil one. But genuine love for God and his people, heartfelt obedience to his commands, consistently over a period of time in a person's life, simply cannot be produced by Satan or by the natural man or woman working in his or her own strength. These can only come about by the Spirit of God working within an giving us new life."
Discussion Questions from Dr. Grudem's Textbook
- Have you been born again? Is there evidence of the new birth in your life? Do you remember a specific time when regeneration occurred in your life? Can you describe how you knew that something had happened?
- Harder question---Are there areas where the results of regeneration are not very clearly seen in your own life? Do you think it is possible for a person to be regenerated and then stagnate spiritually so that there is little or no growth? What circumstances might a person live in that would lead to such spiritual stagnation and lack of growth (if that is possible), even though the person was truly born again? To what degree does the kind of church one attends, the teaching one receives, the kind of Christian fellowship one has, and the regularity of one's personal time of Bible reading and pray, affect one's own spiritual life and growth?
Ok! I have done all the typing. It is your turn. What are your thoughts? Did you learn anything?
Here is the link to Dr. Grudem's teaching on the Doctrine of Regeneration from our Sunday school class at Scottsdale Bible Church.
